Edinburgh Council's former head of business partnerships, Steven McGavin, has joined outsourcing giant Capita's property consultancy arm.

McGavin joins GL Hearn – part of Capita Real Estate – as Planning and Development Director (Scotland) and will its lead on development projects across Scotland from its offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

He previously spent more than six years with Edinburgh City Council as head of business partnerships, with responsibility for business improvement districts, town centre regeneration, priority development zones, the Edinburgh business forum and tourism.

One of McGavin's key responsibilities was overseeing the ‘Edinburgh 12’ initiative, a strategic group of 12 development sites across the city which together are expected to deliver 20,000 new jobs, 1.5million square foot of office space and 1,600 hotel rooms.

In his new role he will “work with Capita Real Estate colleagues to unlock the development potential of key opportunity sites”.

Alastair Crowdy, national head of development group for GL Hearn, said: “We are tremendously pleased to have Steve on board – he is going to bring a wealth of experience of working on development in Scotland and bolster an already strong Capita Real Estate and GL Hearn presence in Edinburgh.”